Chapter 2 - The Family Table
Margaret Hayes lived in the kind of penthouse designed to remind visitors that wealth was not simply owned there.
It was displayed.
The private elevator opened directly into a foyer lined with Italian marble.
A grand piano nobody played stood beneath a chandelier.
Garlands wound around white columns.
Two uniformed catering employees moved silently between the kitchen and dining room.
Victoria was the first person Chloe saw.
She stood beside the fireplace holding champagne.
"Well," Victoria said. "The military delegation finally arrived."
Jessica removed her coat.
"Merry Christmas, Victoria."
Victoria glanced at Chloe.
"That's what she's wearing?"
Chloe immediately looked down at her red shirt.
Jessica handed her coat to the attendant.
"Yes."
Victoria smiled.
"I sent David the dress code."
"I don't remember asking for one."
David appeared from the dining room.
He kissed Chloe on the top of the head.
Not Jessica.
"You made it."
Jessica checked the clock.
Three exactly.
"I said we would."
Margaret entered a moment later.
At sixty-four, she had perfected the art of looking disappointed before anyone spoke.
Her gray-blond hair was swept into a precise twist.
Emerald earrings matched the ring on her right hand.
She hugged Chloe briefly.
"You're getting heavy."
Chloe's smile disappeared.
Jessica noticed.
David pretended not to.
Dinner began twenty minutes later.
Richard sat at one end.
Margaret sat at the other.
David and Jessica faced each other.
Victoria sat beside Chloe.
Jessica had asked Chloe if she wanted to switch seats.
Chloe said she was fine.
The first course arrived.
Conversation revolved around Hawthorne Tower, Margaret's newest development near the river.
Victoria was overseeing investor relations.
David's consulting firm had become an outside adviser.
Margaret spoke about occupancy projections.
Jessica listened.
Then Margaret said something that made Jessica stop cutting her salad.
"We finally closed the municipal land adjustment."
David's eyes flicked toward his mother.
Victoria took a drink.
Jessica looked between them.
"What adjustment?"
Margaret dabbed her mouth.
"Business."
"I gathered."
David's jaw tightened.
"Jessica."
"What?"
Victoria laughed.
"She always needs the briefing."
Jessica looked at her.
"No. I just find it interesting that David advised the project for eight months and never mentioned municipal land."
David placed his fork down.
"It wasn't relevant."
"To our household?"
"Why would it be?"
Jessica held his gaze.
"That's a good question."
Something passed across Margaret's face.
Small.
Fast.
But Jessica saw it.
Fear.
Not annoyance.
Fear.
The main course arrived.
Chloe picked at her potatoes.
Jessica leaned closer.
"You okay?"
The girl nodded.
Victoria interrupted.
"Use your knife."
Chloe froze.
Jessica said, "She's five."
"Five-year-olds can use table manners."
"Victoria."
"What? I'm helping."
Chloe tried cutting her chicken.
The knife slipped.
A small piece fell onto the tablecloth.
Victoria groaned dramatically.
"Oh, for God's sake."
Chloe whispered, "Sorry."
Jessica put down her fork.
"You don't need to apologize."
Margaret frowned.
"Actually, children should learn to apologize when they make a mess."
Jessica looked toward her.
"Children should also learn accidents happen."
Margaret's lips tightened.
David whispered, "Can we not?"
Jessica turned to him.
"Not what?"
"You know."
There it was again.
The invisible rule.
Jessica was allowed to attend.
Allowed to smile.
Allowed to accept insults.
But she was never allowed to respond.
Chloe reached for her water.
Victoria moved the glass slightly away.
"Say please."
Chloe blinked.
"Please."
Victoria moved it farther.
"Louder."
Jessica's chair shifted.
David immediately looked at her.
"Jess."
Chloe's eyes filled.
"Please."
Victoria returned the glass.
"There. Was that so difficult?"
Jessica spoke quietly.
"Don't do that again."
Victoria laughed.
"Do what?"
"Use my daughter to entertain yourself."
Margaret set down her wine.
"Jessica, nobody is entertaining themselves."
"Good."
Jessica smiled.
"Then it won't happen again."
Richard stared at his plate.
David looked furious.
And Chloe, desperate to make the tension disappear, reached for the small porcelain gravy boat.
Her sleeve caught the handle.
The gravy boat tipped.
Brown gravy spilled across Victoria's burgundy dress.
For one second nobody reacted.
Then Victoria shot to her feet.
"You little idiot!"
Chloe gasped.
"I'm sorry!"
Victoria's arm rose.
Jessica saw it.
So did David.
So did Margaret.
So did Richard.
Nobody stopped her.
May you like
The slap landed.
And six hours after Jessica had considered canceling Christmas dinner, every lie holding the Carter-Hayes family together finally began to break.
